Dec. 21, 2010
Trent J. Perrotto
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-0321
trent.j.perrotto@nasa.gov
Rebecca Powell
Wallops Flight Facility, Va.
757-824-1579
rebecca.h.powell@nasa.gov
Lily Whiteman
National Science Foundation, Washington
703-292-8310
lwhitema@nsf.gov
RELEASE: 10-343
NASA-NSF SCIENTIFIC BALLOON LAUNCHES FROM ANTARCTICA
WASHINGTON -- NASA and the National Science Foundation launched a
scientific balloon on Monday, Dec. 20, to study the effects of cosmic
rays on Earth. It was the first of five scientific balloons scheduled
to launch from Antarctica in December.
The Cosmic Ray Energetics And Mass (CREAM VI) experiment was designed
and built at the University of Maryland. CREAM VI is investigating
high-energy cosmic-ray particles that originated from distant
supernovae explosions in the Milky Way and reached Earth.
Currently, CREAM VI is floating at 126,000 feet above Antarctica with
nominal science operations.
Two smaller, hand-launched space science payloads have already been
launched, flown, and successfully flight terminated. They carried the
Balloon Array for Radiation-belt Relativistic Electron Losses
(BARREL) experiment designed and constructed at Dartmouth College.
BARREL will provide answers on how and where Earth's Van Allen
radiation belts, which produce the polar aurora, periodically
interact with Earth's upper atmosphere. These test flights will help
scientists prepare for similar flight experiments scheduled for
launch in 2013 and 2014.
Next in line will be an experiment from the University of Pennsylvania
called the Balloon Borne Aperture Submillimeter Telescope (BLAST).
This experiment will investigate how magnetic fields impede star
formation in our galaxy. BLAST’s instrumentation and telescope will
collect data to make the first high-resolution images of magnetically
polarized dust in a number of nearby star forming regions.
A super-pressure balloon test flight also will be conducted. The
14-million-cubic-foot NASA balloon is the largest single-cell,
fully-sealed, super-pressure structure ever flown. It is twice the
size of a similar balloon flown over Antarctica for 54 days from
December 2008 to February 2009. NASA’s goal is to eventually develop
a 26-million cubic-foot super-pressure balloon, nearly the size of a
football stadium.
NASA scientific balloons are composed of a lightweight polyethylene
film, similar to sandwich wrap. Flying to altitudes of nearly 25
miles, the balloons carry payloads weighing up to 6,000 pounds.
During part of each Antarctic summer, from December to February, NASA
and the National Science Foundation conduct a scientific balloon
campaign. Two unique geophysical conditions above Antarctica make
long-duration balloon flights circumnavigating the continent possible
during the three-month period.
A nearly circular pattern of gentle east-to-west winds that lasts for
a few weeks allows the recovery of a balloon from roughly the same
geographic location from which it was launched and permits a flight
path that is almost entirely above land. Balloons are illuminated
continuously because the sun never sets during the Antarctic summer.
And balloons maintain a constant temperature and altitude, which
increases and stabilizes observation times. By contrast, in other
areas of the world, daily heating and cooling cycles change the
volume of gas in the balloon and cause it to rise and fall, severely
limiting fly times.
NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia manages the scientific
balloon program for the agency's Science Mission Directorate in
Washington. Under NASA safety supervision, the launch operations are
conducted by the Columbia Scientific Balloon Facility in Palestine,
Texas, which is managed by the Physical Science Laboratory of New
Mexico State University. The National Science Foundation manages the
U.S. Antarctic Program and provides logistic support for all U.S.
scientific operations in Antarctica.
To monitor the real time flight tracks of the balloons, visit:
http://www.csbf.nasa.gov/antarctica/ice1011.htm
For more information on NASA’s scientific balloon program, visit:
http://sites.wff.nasa.gov/code820
-end-